Project and Maintenance Engineer

Facade Today; Batavia (IL); On-site; USD 130,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity stake

Full benefits package

On‑site role in Batavia, IL

Job summary

Savor Foods Limited is seeking a hands‑on mechanical engineer to act as the on‑ground problem solver as we scale up a novel production process in Batavia, IL. You will alternate between field, GC duties, and CAD work to turn sketches into operating systems, with strong leadership and engineering support above you.

The role requires a BS in mechanical engineering or equivalent millwright/technician background with reading and creating drawings, safety focus, and CMMS familiarity.

Qualifications

• 3+ years in a manufacturing environment or equivalent hands‑on experience with drawings and field work.
• Ability to read and produce mechanical drawings and work at an engineering level.
• Familiarity with safety practices and process hazard analyses (HAZOP/PHAs).

Responsibilities

• Perform field work to scope repairs and generate vendor quotes.
• Act as on‑site GC for contractors; coordinate with shops and vendors.
• Produce isometrics and nozzle projections; draft maintenance SOPs.
• Support capital retrofits from concept through installation and commissioning.

Skills

Mechanical design

Field engineering

Vendor management

Safety compliance

Effective communication

Education

B.S. in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

CMMS

Job description

Savor Foods Limited is a Series A stage startup pursuing transformational technology to produce high-quality, healthy, and affordable foods, carbon neutrally. We are taking an extremely ambitious bet in the climate fight and we're looking for someone who shares our passion for the mission to build a more sustainable and just food system.

We're looking for a hands‑on mechanical engineer — or a millwright/mechanic with the engineering chops to back it up — to be our on‑the‑ground problem solver as we scale up a novel production process. This is a wide‑open, field‑first role: some days you're walking the floor with a vendor to scope a repair, some days you're playing GC on a small capital project, and some days you're at a CAD screen turning a field sketch into a proper isometric. You'll have leadership and engineering support above you, so you won't be building this alone — but you will be the person who makes things actually get fixed, installed, and running.

Responsibilities

Field and hands‑on work

• Run field walks to scope repairs and generate vendor quotes
• Do pre‑job walks the morning of a job and act as on‑site GC for contractors and shops
• Source and install spare parts; coordinate with local vendors and machine shops on repairs
• Get hands‑on with mechanical work directly when needed — including pipe/tube bending as a stopgap (we're actively working to reduce how often this falls to this role)
• Troubleshoot existing facility equipment and support day‑to‑day reliability
• Help build out our reliability program and CMMS as we grow (PM planning, spare parts, failure tracking) — this is a young program, so there's real room to shape it

Engineering and documentation

• Produce mechanical drawings as needed: isometrics, vessel nozzle projections, and similar field‑to‑drawing translations
• Draft and modify process and maintenance SOPs
• Support small capital retrofits from concept through installation and commissioning, and work with engineering leadership and outside partners on larger projects
• Assess and iterate equipment design to reach steady‑state, on‑spec operation

Process and facility support

• Support process monitoring efforts to catch trends affecting output, quality, or equipment integrity
• Work closely with Operations, Plant Management, and QA/QC to flag and resolve equipment and infrastructure issues
• Develop and help implement facility improvement plans
• Document and communicate work plans and results on a regular basis
• Support other projects and team members as needed

Qualifications / Skills

We’re open to a few different backgrounds here — what matters most is a proven ability to move fluidly between hands‑on fieldwork and engineering‑level documentation:

• B.S. in mechanical engineering (or related field) with 3+ years in a manufacturing environment; or a strong millwright/mechanic/technician background with demonstrated ability to read and produce mechanical drawings and work at an engineering level (formal degree not required if the experience is there)
• Comfortable being the one who shows up to a job site, scopes it, and sees it through — not just specifying work for someone else to do
• Working ability to produce mechanical drawings (isometrics, nozzle projections, etc.)
• Deep respect for safe operation of manufacturing equipment; experience with formal or informal process hazard analysis, and a habit of surfacing safety concerns proactively
• Experience working with outside vendors, OEMs, mechanical shops, and fabricators — especially on piping and pressure vessel retrofits
• Familiarity with relevant codes and mechanical integrity practices (ASME VIII, NFPA, API 510/570/653, RBI, fitness‑for‑service, etc.) preferred
• Experience with reliability programs and CMMS (PM planning/scheduling, spare parts management, failure tracking) is a strong plus
• Comfortable with ambiguity — able to take a project from a blank canvas to fully operational, with support but without hand‑holding
• Willingness to do lower‑level mechanical work (like tube bending) when the job requires it, even as we work to phase that out of this role
• Attention to detail and strong written/verbal communication for documentation and cross‑team coordination

What we Offer

We offer competitive compensation ($130k-150k, commensurate with experience), equity at a meaningful stage in Savor’s growth, and a full suite of benefits. This is a hands‑on, on‑site position — you'll need to be able to commute to our facility in Batavia, IL.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer — we do not discriminate in hiring, promotions, or any other way on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non‑merit factor.